Why is there a differance in to_char(systimestamp) and systimestamp???

Question

Hi All,
Its strange that I'm getting different outputs from the following. Can someone throw some light why it's happening?
select to_CHAR(sysdate, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MM:SS') from dual;
select to_CHAR(systimestamp, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MM:SS') from dual;
select systimestamp from dual;output---
TO_CHAR(SYSDATE,'DD-MON-YYYYHH24:MM:SS')
22-JAN-2008 12:01:26                    
1 rows selected
TO_CHAR(SYSTIMESTAMP,'DD-MON-YYYYHH24:MM:SS')
22-JAN-2008 12:01:26                         
1 rows selected
SYSTIMESTAMP 
22-JAN-08 12.18.26.683000000 PM +05:30
1 rows selectedwhereas on the onsite server output is as follows-
TO_CHAR(SYSDATE,'DD-MON-YYYYHH24:MM:SS')
22-jan-2008 02:01:06                    
1 rows selected
TO_CHAR(SYSTIMESTAMP,'DD-MON-YYYYHH24:MM:SS')
22-jan-2008 02:01:07                         
1 rows selected
SYSTIMESTAMP 
22-JAN-08 02.02.07.592824000 AM -05:00
1 rows selected
why is there difference?

Answer 1

Hi,
SYSTIMESTAMP returns the system date, including fractional seconds and time zone,
of the system on which the database resides.
SQL> select systimestamp, TO_CHAR(SYSTIMESTAMP,'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MM:SS') mod_systime, sysdate from dual;
SYSTIMESTAMP                        MOD_SYSTIME          SYSDATE
22/01/08 10:48:59.138000 AM +03:00  22-JAN-2008 10:01:59 22-01-2008 10:48:59As you may see, when I simple select SYSTIMESTAMP, the output is date, time with fraction part, and time zone.
When I apply TO_CHAR to SYSTIMESTAMP and specify the requested format, the output is of the requested form.
SYSDATE is as usual date and time.